What translation of the Bible is the most
accurate?

I was wanted to do a whole read-through of the Bible and was wondering which versions are the most accurate while still being fairly readable.---I won't have it! I'm not having anyone talk about me inthe past tense! ~Squall Leonhart

ESV is my recommendation; NASB is slightly more literal. NIV is generally good, although there are a few passages that have a slight theological bias---A good man would prefer to be defeated than to defeat injustice by evil means - Sallust

I've read through, cover to cover, with a number of different versions. Ultimately they all convey the same idea and meaning. Unless you're trying to take a Scripture and run with it to create your own denomination, any version will do.

Here's an example of the "bias" some people complain about in the NIV:

Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But that is not what God desires; rather, he devises ways so that a banished person does not remain banished from him. - 2 Samuel 14:14 (NIV)

"We must all die; we are like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But God will not take away life, and he devises means so that the banished one will not remain an outcast." - 2 Samuel 14:14 (ESV)

The NIV version more clearly establishes that this is an allusion to God's plan of salvation through Jesus Christ. The second one merely says "outcast" and doesn't really specify from where the outcast has been cast. The context of the Scripture does strongly suggest this meaning. But, again, outside of taking a Scripture and running with it, the meaning is ultimately the same.

My three favorite translations are the Living Bible (not the NLT, but the original Living Bible!) the ESV, and the NIV. The ESV is probably the most literal word for word translation. Though if you've ever spent time learning a second language, you probably already know "word for word" is not always the most accurate method of translation. So, I'd say it's a close tossup between the ESV and NIV.

To my understanding, simply put, the NIV translation attempts to convey the meaning of the text with respect to the context, while the ESV is a more word-for-word translation. Both are fine. I have yet to come across a version of the Bible that was significantly poor.

Also, relevant comic.

http://adam4d.com/image/30997940628---"Christ is with those of humble mind, not with those who exalt themselves over his flock." -St. Clement of Rome.

That's not a translation, but a commentary. Unless you're suggesting that the translation that "thing" uses is the most accurate one. In which case, to answer his question, you ought just to have given that.---Shooting Game never die.It prays that the clover of luck be always in your mind.